Garage Doors Do Double Duty

No longer just a portal to parked cars, these glassy walls open to let the feeling of outside inside.

Why open a window or a sliding glass door when just pushing a button will make the whole wall disappear?

More architects and home builders are using garage doors in unusual places to achieve an airy effect. The look is sleek, and the doors don’t take up floor space.

Here’s a look at some homes where the garage doors got away from the garage.

PHOTO: ANICE HOACHLANDER

SWIM CINEMA

At this McLean, Va., home, a garage door was installed in the pool house, which also has a rear-projection screen. When the door is open, people are able to watch movies from the pool, says architect Randall Mars.

PHOTO: ERIC LAIGNEL/WEST CHIN ARCHITECTS & INTERIOR DESIGNERS

HANGAR HANGOUT

This 24-by-14-foot door is the type used in airplane hangars, says New York-based architect West Chin. He had it installed in the great room of a 6,000-square-foot beach house he designed for a client in Long Beach, N.Y. To control insects, there’s a remote-controlled, floor-to-ceiling screen. Because the door weighs about 6 tons—roughly the same as two small cars—installation required steel tubing, along with the counterweights and steel supports.

PHOTO: LUCAS HENNING

NEIGHBORLY

On Camano Island, Wash., siblings own two homes that are divided by a courtyard. In one of the homes, a 16- by 8-foot garage door spans the entire back wall, exposing the kitchen to the courtyard. “It gives the two houses a connection but still allows for privacy,” says architect Dan Nelson of Stanwood, Wash.-based Designs Northwest Architects.

PHOTO: JEFF HEATLEY

COOL POOL

Architect Frank Greenwald used a garage door instead of a wall in a modern addition he designed for his Sag Harbor, N.Y., home. The 16-by-16-foot door opens up to the yard and swimming pool, blurring the line between inside and outside. “It is very impressive,” he says. “Everyone who sees it thinks it’s very cool.”